Tom:
It would probably be best to wait until the AP staff release all the info about version 7.6, like they usually do, but with S-n-F this week they may be a bit busy, so here are some suggestions to get you started.
When you download the new version, also download airport photos for the states you will be flying in.
Real View - Aerial images of airports can be displayed in several ways:
- In any map mode when you hold your finger on an airport and open the context menu you can select "RealView Airport";
- by tapping on the airport diagram on the Airport Information page;
- in vector mode by zooming in tight to the magnification scale.
Auto Taxi - you must enable the Auto-Taxi feature: Menu>Setup>Map Settings>Auto Taxi (enable). This feature will automatically start your display by showing your position on an airport taxi diagram (if there is one for the airport) or the Real View airport photo, then automatically switch to the map mode when your speed goes above 35, then when you land it will automatically switch the display to the airport diagram or RealView photo.
You can enable a compass rose around your airplane icon. Menu>Setup>Map Settings> Course/Compass. You can also select whether or not the distance rings have a fixed range (5, 10, 15,...) or are dynamic depending on the map mode and map scale. Menu>Setup>Map Settings>Distance Rings.
WAAS enabled - You can choose to enable using a separate WAAS signal for improved GPS position accuracy. Menu>About>GPS Information. Click the "Always enable WAAS when available" check box.
Fix Quality instrument - You can place an instrument on your screen which shows the quality of the GPS fix/signal. Menu>Setup>Customize Instruments>Add. This instrument will show bars depicting the quality of the fix and will light up with "WAAS" too when you have the extra signal. Once it is displayed on your screen, if you tap on this instrument it will take you directly to the GPS Overview page, like for starting simulations, etc.
You can select from 15 different airplane icons. Menu>Setup>Menu Settings>Aircraft Icon.
There are two different setups for the Instruments pages: Mode>Instruments Panel. Then just tap on one of the DIGITAL instruments to toggle between the two pages of instruments. You can also customize these pages by adding, removing and moving instruments as before.
I think those are the main new operational features in ver 7.6 which should help you until AP publishes the full release notes. ===== Ralph